NIP in the United States Compared to NIP in China

When looking at national information policy in the United States, one might wonder how other countries look at information, particularly the freedom of information. Often, the United States likes to place emphasis on countries that are considered to be more controlling with information, both throughout the government and the general public. One of these countries is the People’s Republic of China.

The People’s Republic of China often appears in the news in the US. Many of these articles and news reports have to do with China’s views on information, with an emphasis on how controlling the government is with information. Just today (November 11), The Washington Post published an article with a title beginning “China Issues Threat Filled Rules to News Media” (2011). But is the Chinese government really as harsh as it is made out to be?
The first known information policy in China was issued in 1958 (Liu 1996). However, it was not until the 1980’s that any noticeable work with the subject was done. Following a long and tumultuous period of governmental, societal, and economic changes, China began to develop a “National Information Infrastructure” under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping in 1984 (Liu 1996).

This brings us to one of the first differences in information policy between the United States and China. In the United States, information policy began as soon as the country was created. The first amendment was adopted in 1791, meaning information policy is over two hundred years old in the United States. With China’s many governmental changes, it was impossible for the country to keep a steady viewpoint on any information policy. Therefore, their policies are much younger, only about thirty years old.

During the 1990’s China seemed to be going backwards with the idea of freedom of information; in 1996 China created regulations on internet access, which forced all internet users to register with the government and allowed the government to monitor all internet activities (Tan, Mueller and Foster 1997). Some of these regulations are still in place today and are often the subject of critique by Americans.

This brings us to another difference in information policy in the United States and China. Unlike the United States, China is not democratic. They are a communist country. The constitution in China does not grant Chinese citizens the right to information and existing legislation (Horsley 2007). It does allow citizens freedom of speech and press, but there are also laws that control what media can be allowed. Anything deemed too controversial or possible of “endangering the state” are not allowed (Bennet 2011).

However, in 2007 China passed a piece of legislation which makes an effort to share information with the Chinese people. The Nationwide Open Government Information Regulations ensures access to government information in order to create more governmental transparency for its citizens (Horsley 2007). The passing of this legislation is historic for China. It shows that the government understands the need for information sharing.

When looking at Chinese national information policy, one must remember several things. China is not democratic. Their citizens have different rights than those of the United States. Also, in being communist, China is ruled by one party. It makes sense that in order for one party to remain in control, information must also be controlled. And yet, China has made a great deal of progress in the last thirty years as far as becoming more open with information. One must also remember that information policy is much newer in China, so they may be facing dilemmas that the United States overcame many years ago.

In conclusion, is it right to try and compare such different countries when it comes to information policies? Especially when they have two opposite forms of government? And when one has been dealing with information policy for such a longer time than the other? And just because another country has different ideas about information sharing than the United States, does this mean they are wrong?



References

China issues threat-filled rules to news media to try to rein in a critical internet. (2011, Novermber 11). The Associated Press. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/china-issues-threat-filled-rules-to-news-media-to-try-to-rein-in-a-critical-internet/2011/11/11/gIQAhtNUBN_story.html

Bennett, I. (2011, March 7). Media censorship in china media censorship in china. Retrieved from http://www.cfr.org/china/media-censorship-china/p11515

Horsley, J. P. (2007). China adopts first nationwide open government information regulations. Retrieved from http://www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/Intellectual_Life/Ch_China_Adopts_1st_OGI_Regulations.pdf

Liu, Y. Q. (1996, August 25). The impact of national policy on developing information infrastructure nationwide issues in p.r. china and the u.s. . Retrieved from http://archive.ifla.org/IV/ifla62/62-liuy3.htm

Tan, T. A., Mueller, M., & Foster, W. (1997). China's new internet regulations: Two steps forward, one step back. Communications of the ACM, 40(12), 11-16. Retrieved from http://som.csudh.edu/fac/lpress/devnat/nations/china/chinah.html

-Megan Parish